Using Prime While Cycleing

[Mort75]

I was just wondering if it was ok to use Seachem Prime while doing my fishless cycle. It says that it removes ammonia so will it screw up my cycle by removing the ammonia before it is able to convert to Nitrites and wont be able to grow the bacteria i need? Please help i dot want to screw things up and make it take longer then normal. Thanks

 

[pumpkinnose]

From what I can tell it's almost like Tetra's SmartStart which I use in my aquariums to change the water. From what I can tell it will just help the filter out with adding some of the good bacteria in to the filter and give it a minor jump start. My daughter's 2.5 gallon already has nitrite in it and it's been cycling with a male betta since the middle of last month. Now my 10 gallon does not have nitrite in it I'm not sure what's up with it but I use the same water conditioner in it.

 

[TrainRek77]

It doesn't hurt anything, but it is a waste of money. Prime chemically converts ammonia into a less toxic substance. The bacteria can still use this substance produce food but since you have no fish there is no benefit. The only reason to use it would be as a water conditioner if you have poor water quality, or if you are doing a fish-in cycle and you want to make your fish more comfortable by neutralizing the toxic ammonia. The best way to start your cycle is to get some filter media or substrate from an established tank.

 

[DrRob]

It's not a waste of money, it's one of the most concentrated dechlorintors you can get.

It affects ammonia by forcing it's conversion to ammonium, which is far less toxic. The effect is temporary and doesn't bother the filter at all.

 

[sadguppy]

It's not a bacteria supplement, it's a dechlorinator. And no it won't affect anything but it'll get rid of chlorine in the tap water that would otherwise kill of the filter bacteria. So keep adding

 

[Mort75]

thanks guys i knew that it wasnt a bacteria supplement but was just wonderin about the ammonia remover that it says it has. thanks for your replies sounds like im good to use it

 

[snazy]

Prime will slow down the cycle for sure. I don't want to go into detail but if you have to do water changes because of dropping ph, lowering the levels for some reason or similar during a cycle, and you are doing a fishless cycle, then just for the cycling purpose use a dechlorinator that does not convert the ammonia.

 

[TrainRek77]

I agree with snazy. Dechlorinator is cheap, prime is expensive. If it's just a cycle use the cheapest stuff you can find. Leaving the ammonia alone is the best bet.

 

[Mort75]

Hey thanks. I have some stress coat will it work? It says fish and water conditioner, makes tap water safe. It doesn't say anything about removing chlorine

Hey thanks. I have some stress coat will it work? It says fish and water conditioner, makes tap water safe. It doesn't say anything about removing chlorine

 

[phantomlink]

I agree with snazy. Dechlorinator is cheap, prime is expensive. If it's just a cycle use the cheapest stuff you can find. Leaving the ammonia alone is the best bet.

I wouldnt exactly call Prime expensive, its 10x more effective then water conditioner. The 500ml bottle I have works for 5000 gallons ( 5ml for 50 gallons compared to the usual 10ml for 10 gallons )

Hey thanks. I have some stress coat will it work? It says fish and water conditioner, makes tap water safe. It doesn't say anything about removing chlorine

API stress coat or something else? Usually if it says it makes tap water safe it will remove the Chlorine and other hard metals in the water

 

[TrainRek77]

I have a half gallon of declorinator that treats 50,000 gallons. 19.99.f

 

[sadguppy]

I think we may be losing the point. For the average fishless cycle when you will be changing water every week or less often, prime is fine, it binds ammonia but temporarily and not at the quantities that you need to add to get a fish less cycle started. All dechlorinators are similar and I am not saying only use prime, but make sure you use dechlor and it really doesn't matter which one.

 

[4seasons]

Prime will slow down the cycle for sure. I don't want to go into detail but if you have to do water changes because of dropping ph, lowering the levels for some reason or similar during a cycle, and you are doing a fishless cycle, then just for the cycling purpose use a dechlorinator that does not convert the ammonia.

WRONG
Prime will not slow down a cycle. If it is a fish in cycle it is the best thing to use. If it is a fishless cycle any dechlorinator will work. Prime only temporally converts ammonia into a less toxic form but the bacteria don't care what form ammonia is in. They will use it just the same. There are some other products out there that remove or bind ammonia and they will stall a cycle but Prime is not one of these.

 

[snazy]

Prime will slow down the cycle for sure. I don't want to go into detail but if you have to do water changes because of dropping ph, lowering the levels for some reason or similar during a cycle, and you are doing a fishless cycle, then just for the cycling purpose use a dechlorinator that does not convert the ammonia.

WRONG
Prime will not slow down a cycle. If it is a fish in cycle it is the best thing to use. If it is a fishless cycle any dechlorinator will work. Prime only temporally converts ammonia into a less toxic form but the bacteria don't care what form ammonia is in. They will use it just the same. There are some other products out there that remove or bind ammonia and they will stall a cycle but Prime is not one of these.

It is not wrong. And the bacteria does care in what form the ammonia is in.

 

[dbanner]

Prime will slow down the cycle for sure. I don't want to go into detail but if you have to do water changes because of dropping ph, lowering the levels for some reason or similar during a cycle, and you are doing a fishless cycle, then just for the cycling purpose use a dechlorinator that does not convert the ammonia.

WRONG
Prime will not slow down a cycle. If it is a fish in cycle it is the best thing to use. If it is a fishless cycle any dechlorinator will work. Prime only temporally converts ammonia into a less toxic form but the bacteria don't care what form ammonia is in. They will use it just the same. There are some other products out there that remove or bind ammonia and they will stall a cycle but Prime is not one of these.

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